A new life behind the wire
by justaguy221
Summary: When a plane accident leaves the tankers of Ooarai scattered across this hellish version of Ukraine, Miho has to rise to the challenge of both adapting to this new life and finding her friends. (Inspired by STALKER zero.)
1. Awakening

_**So this is something I thought up after the cancellation of STALKER zero an expertly crafted fanfic created by**_ ** _TheannaTW over on a fanfic that I would sincerely recommend you to read. But I don't want to seem like I'm copying her which is why I do the things I do._**

 ** _Anyways, I hope you enjoy this fic more will be coming soon._**

* * *

The plane violently shook as the screams from her friends surrounded her. Miho's mind was in a blur. She couldn't quite tell what had happened or what was going on, but it was apparent that they were in danger, upon attempting to look out the window she was greeted with by a blinding light which refused to let her see out into the world.

She didn't know whether it was her extensive training or the fact that she had only just woken up, but she felt abnormally calm about the situation. Mako who was known for her sleepy attitude who sat across the aisle, next to Saori looked to be in a larger state of panic then her, gripping her seat with such uncharacteristic vigour that Miho was afraid that she was going to pass out.

Even Anzu who sat directly in front of her was a far cry from her ordinary laid-back self, screaming at the top of her lungs, easily drowning the rest of the plane. But it wasn't only her, every group had a person or two that were in such a state of panic that it overpowered the rest of the group.

An explosion suddenly rocked the plane throwing her to the left. Before her mind could process what had happened, another explosion rocked the aircraft, this time throwing her to her right. The screams around her intensified as a sudden feeling of weightlessness overtook her senses. A single thought filled her head that finally pushed her over the edge into the fear that the entire cabin felt. The plane was dipping.

Panic began to spread to every facet of her being. This wasn't supposed to happen, they were supposed to be going to the senshadou world championships in Britain where she would see her mother and other adults compete in the sport she loved.

She felt something wrap around her hand, looking towards it she found Yukari clinging to it for dear life. her trailed up the arm until she found herself staring face to face with her tank's loader, her breathing was calm, and her body lacked any sign of anxiety. But her eyes betrayed the boast of confidence.

They continued to stare at each other their eyes speaking louder than any words could in this situation. The uncertainty, the terror, the fear. All of it was present, and all of it was up front.

Miho grabbed hold of her tank loaders hand and enjoyed the rather small comfort it brought.

Another explosion rocked the aircraft. Her grip tightened as she let out yet another scream. Her body was yanked forward by some invisible force. The only thing holding her back was the seat belt that Yukari had put on her when the turbulence first began.

Miho slammed her eyes shut hoping that all of this would go away, that this was nothing but a nightmare and that she would wake up in her bed. Then, everything went silent. The tugging at her body stopped as a new light attempted to pierce her eyelids.

Confused, Miho slowly opened her eyes, finding the entire fuselage blanketed in a ghostly blue hue, seemingly originating from up above them. But the thing that took her breath away was the fact that the top of the cabin was now missing, seemingly ripped off by some unseen force. She slowly turned her gaze skywards squinting at the blinding light as if she was gazing into the sun itself.

What was going on? Were they dead? They were a dive and now sat in the middle of whatever this was. Was this the place beyond?

The screams petered off as the rest of her classmates seemed to realize their new-found predicament. Hushed whispers began to be traded between teams as they gazed up into the strange blue light. "Miss Nishizumi, what's going on?" Her tank loader whispered into her ear.

Miho had wanted to provide the answer, she was their commander after all, but no matter how she looked at it, she had absolutely no clue. "I'm. Not sure. But... I'll go find Kay, see if she knows anything." unfastening her belt, she pulled herself out of the chair and shimmied past her crew member.

She moved through the cabin with haste, passing row after row of girls all silently terrified and confused as to what was happening. The sweat on Miho's head a clear display of her anxiety.

She swallowed her fear and pressed on before she knew it, she was already Pushing through the threshold to the next part of the plane, she encountered the Pravda team, one of the two other schools on this trip.

They were in the same predicament that her team was in, with most of the students entranced by the light. All except their tiny commander Katyusha who looked to be on the verge of breaking down with her face pressed firmly into Nonna's shoulders.

As she passed them by, she could hear faint sobs coming from the tiny girl, and her friends attempt to calm her down. "Shh, Katyusha we'll be fine. Klara has gone to see Kay and make sure everything is fine." The tall raven-haired girl.

Pressing forward, she passed the empty command cabin and found herself at the entrance to the flight deck which was still fully intact. Opening the door, she found herself freezing up Her eyes widened at the scene. The windows were shattered, glass littering the ground, a sickening smell of sulphur wafted from the control panels, carried by the faint smoke that rose from the console.

All three girls from Saunders, that had been piloting the plane laid on the floor. Their arms and faces covered with bandages, no doubt applied by the blonde-haired girl that sat over them applying bandages to Kay's face.

Audibly gulping she stepped forward cautiously, their weak moans of pain becoming more audible the closer she got. "What happened?" She said breathlessly.

"Electrical discharge. Or at least they think that." Klara spoke in her thick Russian accent paying no attention to her as she continued to tend to the girl's wounds.

'So, lightning?' She thought to herself. It made a bit of sense, it would definitely explain the turbulence they experienced. But would that explain the damage?

"Da, but I'm not entirely sure it could do all this? But is my best guess." She explained as she finished up the bandages. Had she said that out loud? Standing up Klara patted herself off and turned towards Miho, her eyes devoid of the fear that plagued the passengers. "There is something going on that cannot be explained by nature. I'm sure you've noticed the bright blue light that surrounds the plane."

"Of course,"

"Well, it isn't limited to just our environment." The blond-haired girl raised her wrist. A sturdy looking military watch was wrapped around it. However, something was off. The numbers that made up its digital display were rapidly changing, with seemingly no pattern to it. "My watch, as well as the surviving plane instruments, are all acting up."

Miho's gaze shifted to the control panel finding something that looked to be a compass embedded within. It looked completely different from what she was used to. The needle was replaced with a line that ran vertically down a pane of glass, behind it was a small disk which she could only assume had the four cardinal directions on it as it was nearly impossible to gauge what was actually written due to the speed it spun at.

The rest of the working instruments were in much the same state of usefulness. This only added to the confusion of this situation, it was as if they had entered a new reality where nothing made sense.

"What should we tell our classmates?" Miho asked hoping that Klara had an answer.

"That we know nothing." She responded bluntly. "It would be a bad idea to lie to them."

Miho bit her lip, this wasn't what she was looking for, or wanted, they were expecting her to come back with answers, but she had nothing. She briefly toyed with the idea of telling them a white lie but deep down she knew it wasn't going to work, they weren't stupid.

"well we-" Before she could even finish that thought a terrified shriek pierced the air. Both her and Klara instantly turned towards passenger cabin where the scream had come from.

The pair sprang into action, instantly rushing out of the pilot's cabin, finding everything in complete disarray. In every row, girls were being plucked up into the air by some unseen force. Every girl was working to keep their friends from floating off into the blue void.

Her eyes drifted over the cabin, soon resting on the disheartening scene of the small Pravda commander desperately trying to save her vice commander from being pulled into the void. But it was no use, Katyusha, as strong-willed as she could be, was being pulled up with her "Nonna, Katyusha!" Klara shouted from behind Miho, she was suddenly shoved aside by Klara who rushed to her friend's aid jumping up to grab hold of her hand.

However, even with the combined weight, Nonna continued to rise into the air. "Forget about me Klara, keep Katyusha safe." Nonna pleaded with her, tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Don't listen to her Klara!" Katyusha shouted. "I order you to help me save her!"

"Klara!" Nonna barked.

Klara barred her teeth making her struggle clear. "I'm sorry Katyusha." Miho could only watch the scene unfold as Klara let go of Nonna and grabbed hold of Katyusha pulling her away from her raven-haired friend.

Katyusha now safe on the ground could only gaze up in horror as Nonna flew higher and higher, a ghostly light beginning to form within her core. "Nonna!" Katyusha could only scream out her friend's name as she exploded into a bright blue light, a thunderous boom that shook the cabin accompanying it.

Katyusha stared wide-eyed at where her closest friend used to be, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she seemingly began to grasp the situation. "No...nna." she mouthed before collapsing to her knees, making no attempt to hide the fact that she was now crying. Klara was quick on the draw swiftly pulling her tiny commander into a tight hug in no doubt hoping to comfort her.

The strange anomaly took no break for the tragic scene in front of her, continuing to drag girls up into the void, following their vice commanders' fate. And all Miho could do was stand there, frozen solid as her mind tried to comprehend what was going on.

Then she remembered her own team. Were they being affected by this? She had to know, she was their commander and she wasn't going to let fear stand in her way. In a single moment, she rushed down the aisle, pushing past the panicking Pravda students who continued the hopeless struggle of attempting to save their friends.

She had wanted to help them like she had saved her old teammates, but she knew that, as cold of a gesture as it was, her team came first.

Pushing through the entrance to her school's cabin once more, Miho gasped at the view in front of her. Her school was in a worse situation then Pravda, with all that remained being mallard team who were currently trying to save their commander, and her own team. Yukari and Saori were still planted on the ground clinging to their other teammates in an attempt to save them.

Questions flooded her mind like a fog obscuring her view. What had happened? How could she have been so slow? She wasn't gone that long so why everyone gone? "Miporin help!" Saori shouted breaking her trance. She shook her head clearing the rest of the fog.

Miho crossed the gap in an instant, quickly grabbing hold of the larger girl's hand in an attempt to stop her ascent. She stared into Hana's eyes attempting to reassure the girl that she was going to make that she was going to be all right. Three sudden terrified shrieks echoed from out sight which were soon followed by three thunderous booms that marked the end of their friends.

Her eyes widened, a chilling running down her back at the realization that shattered her confidence. Hana turned to where mallard once sat. Tears began to fall from Hana hitting Miho on the way down. "Look at me Hana, just keep looking at me." She told the girl attempting to keep her focused on her and not the void that seemed to consume everything around them

But that didn't change the fact that they were alone now. Her heart's tempo doubled in speed as sweat form on her brow. She tightened her grip on the girls hand every ounce of strength in her body poured into saving her friend who had stood by her side since she first entered Ooarai.

However much like everyone before her it was pointless to try and fight the light. Not ten second after grabbing hold of the girl, she felt the ground beneath her pull away. Panic snaked its way through her body, a voice in the back of her mind yelled at her to let go to save herself. But she couldn't, she wouldn't. She looked around for anything for her foot to hook on too, but found nothing.

"Let go of me Miho, save yourself." Hana's voice shaking with the fear that they shared. Miho, grit her teeth, Hana had always been one to think of others instead of herself, but to ask her to let her go, to let her die? How could she ask such a thing, didn't she remember how she ended up at their school?

"Never!" She said through gritted teeth.

The doubt within her grew louder, it was apparent that she was going to be taken with her, but she ignored both Hana's and its pleas, she wouldn't let the doubt that had held her back from doing the things she loved win. She suddenly felt something wrap around her ankles. Looking towards the source, she found Yukari holding onto her leg. "Hold on Miss Nishizumi!" When had she let go of Hana?

But it wasn't enough, she was still being pulled skywards. Doubt boomed within her head, yelling at her to let go to save herself, to not be the hero. And she believed it, she couldn't save her. She suddenly felt two pairs of hands wrap around her free leg. Gazing to the floor she found Mako and Saori both hanging on to her, both of their faces showed their fear, but also they're willing to face it.

Miho steeled herself, she wouldn't lose Hana, resolve empowering every facet of her being, she wouldn't lose. Gritting her teeth, she clung onto the long-haired girl with all her might. So much so that she didn't doubt that had it not been for the numbness provided by the adrenaline that Hana would be in pain.

A shriek from Saori grabbed her attention, however as she turned her gaze, Saori and Mako passed her by, heading up into the blue light, she reached out to grab them, to save them like she was supposed to. But whoever or whatever was controlling the blue light used this opportunity and yank Hana from her grip.

She stared in silence as she watched three of her closest friends explode into a bright blue light. This wasn't supposed to happen, she was supposed to save them, they were expecting her to save them. She was Miho commander of Ooarai's senshadou club, the ace of Kuromorimine that took a no-name school to being the national champions. But how could she still call herself a commander without a crew, the only one left was Yukari.

"Just a little longer." Yukari her voice filled with the confidence she wished she had. She couldn't help but envy the girl's stubborn nature. Pushing past the tears she readied herself, she may not have been able to save Hana, but she would save Yukari. Reeling back her free leg, she kicked the girl's hand causing her to let go as a pained grunt escaped her lips.

"I'm sorry." Were the last words she told to her as she rose up from the plane. A chill ran through her body as she continued to ascend, every part of her body tingled causing her muscles to relax, it almost felt comforting. But that feeling soon faded, being replaced pain that grew in intensity as she continued to ascend, eventually feeling like her entire being was being torn apart by this force

Her vision went white as her very soul was torn apart. The last thing she heard was a faint cry of her name.

xXXXx

Pain, what was this pain Miho felt? Why, even within the void of sleep, did her head feel like a construction crew was taking a jackhammer to it? Letting out a small groan, she brought a hand to her head, slowly massaging it in an attempt to dull the pain.

As it subsided, she slowly opened her eyes allowing her to see out into the waking world, finding herself in a dark room she didn't recognize. The two windows on the right side of the room had wooden shutters that were exotic in design. The desk next to the wall had what looked to be a radio, that was playing some strange instrumental music, as well as a hot plate, a ceramic bowl sat atop it. Next to her was a wooden cabinet filled to the brim with books but what seemed odd to her was that this apartment if you could even call it that had a single other room or rather it looked to be a simple closet.

It was tiny compared to her own in Ooarai not to mention the fact that all of the furnishings looked to have been at least forty years old if the wear was anything to go by. But what had happened to them? Where were her friends? Pulling the covers off she found herself in her school's uniform, only adding to her confusion, it didn't help that the bag that contained everything she needed was nowhere to be seen.

The music wound down and before silence could take over the apartment what she could only assume was the announcer began to speak in what sounded like Russian. _"With our recent measurements, we predict that the next emission will take place tomorrow between 6 and 7 pm. So, make sure to be indoors and listening to our excellent line up of catchy tunes. Radio freedom, making this harsh cold zone a little warmer. Next up KY from 5'nizza."_

So, she was in Russia, maybe. She wasn't the best with eastern Europe, the most she knew was East Germany and that was due to her German tutor who lived there before the wall fell. But why wasn't she in Britain? Her gaze focused on the window as an idea formed in her head. Shifting over to the edge of the bed she placed both feet on the rug that covered most of the floor and attempted to stand up. Only to be forced back down by a wave of dizziness.

She took a moment to compose herself, taking a deep breath which, thankfully ended the feeling. Standing up once more, she walked over to the shutters and slowly opened them, finding a dreary scene that only added to her confusion. She looked to be on the second floor of some building in the middle of nowhere if the dark dense forest in front of her was anything to go by. It didn't help that clouds blanketed the sky making it look all the more depressing.

Beneath her was a small courtyard with a paved roundabout for cars to easily turn around. But everything else looked to be completely neglected. No that was understating it, it looked as if they had been 'abused' junk covered the tall unkept grass with the garbage mostly consisting of old cars, rusted beyond repair, old factory equipment which was much in the same state and large cement pipes strewn about the area as if dumped in a hurry.

Her heart picked up in pace as a single thought entered her mind, what if she had been kidnapped? It would explain why she didn't remember how she got here. But, why wasn't she restrained, surely if she was kidnapped her captor would restrain her? She needed more information to go on before coming to a conclusion. Turning towards the closed door to the room she cautiously approached it not sure if she wanted the answer it would give her.

As she grabbed the doorknob and gave it a small twist, she felt her heart sink, it was locked. So, she was kidnapped. But who would do such a thing? why? was it for money? Whoever did must have known her family name and if he did, he must have known that she had been disowned? So, he would know that her mother would pay nothing. So why would he, or they kidnap her?

Her gaze shifted to the cabinet, perhaps it contained a clue or something that could help her figure out her situation. Walking over to it she opened and began to scan its contents, finding nothing but row after row of books written in Russian.

A defeated sigh escaped her lips. Why did she expect to find something she could actually read? As she turned away from the makeshift bookshelf, she noticed something different out of the corner of her eye, it was a single book that was backwards making it impossible to read the title.

She mindlessly reached out and placed a hand on the book, only for her sense of morality to stop and scold her. What was she doing snooping around someone else's apartment even? But... no, this was a kidnapping, she couldn't let her morals stop her. Grabbing the book, she pulled it out allowing her to now see the title finding that it was a German Ukrainian dictionary. An odd book to be sure, but it gave her the answers she wanted. she was somewhere in Ukraine, maybe. This could just also be a guy who spoke Ukrainian or German and wanted to learn the other language.

This was good though at least she has some way of translating the books, but that would take time. Perhaps she would have to be more creative. Gripping the dictionary Miho sauntered towards the radio and began to toy with the dials first switching it to AM. If she could find a weather report, she could use the dictionary to translate and see if she was near any of Ukraine's cities depending on the weather. If there was a flaw in her plan, it was assuming that she was in Ukraine.

After much fiddling, she finally tuned in to what sounded like a talk show of some kind. Well not really a talk show, more like a shouting match between an extremely angry woman and an equally as furious man. Now if this was like the AM stations back in Japan then the weather report should come on every thirty minutes, she just hoped that she didn't just miss it.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, she placed the book on her lap and began to flip through the pages, until she landed on the page titled, We. Scanning the page, she soon found the German word for weather, Wetter. Which when translated into Ukranian sound like Pohoba. With that in mind she flipped to "Be" in the book soon finding bedeckt, the German word for overcast which when translated sounded like khmarytysya

Repeating the words over and over in her head she focused all of her attention on the radio. A few minutes later the debate or whatever you would call this, went to break, in which several presumably commercials played. And then she heard what she was waiting for. _Weather_ she flipped back to her second folded page and stared at the Ukrainian word for overcast.

" _it is currently eight here in Kiev the overcast that covers most of our wonderful Ukraine won't dissipate until early tomorrow. the change in weather will be accompanied by a rise in temperatures reaching a high point of fifteen. however, on Wednesday you can expect a dip to a low of three. Weather updates every thirty minutes here on KTSR 960 AM Now back to today's debate, whether we should open up the zone to foreign nations."_

Miho stared at the book in bewilderment, she didn't get any of that, she heard the name Kiev and Ukraine which confirmed that she was indeed where she thought she was. But other than that, she had nothing. She could possibly be in Kiev, or nearabouts to it but she didn't know for sure. But she still needed to get out of here.

The sudden sound of metal creaking came from beyond the locked door. Widening her eyes, Miho realized, that whoever had captured her was coming back. Shooting to her feet, she rushed over to the cabinet, only to trip over a fold in the rug sending her to the ground face first, letting out a small grunt of pain on impact. The clicking of the door being unlocked quickly brought her back to reality.

Having no time to hide the evidence of her awakening, she quickly crawled under the bed and out of sight. Her heart pounded in her chest as the door was slowly pushed opened, which was accompanied by a loud creak that shook her down to her core. Her captor sauntered into the room the clacking of their boots sent shivers up her spine.

It didn't help that the boots and pants looked rugged and worn as if, adding to this vile sense of mystery that surrounded her captor. He let out a sigh that confirmed her captor's sex. " _Should have known it would come to this"_ The man uttered in Ukranian before walking closer to the bed. Her heart sank into her gut as she could do nothing but watch from her position as the boots got closer, and closer, and closer. Until they were mere inches away from her face.

" _Alright, come on out."_ The man spoke in his language as he crouched down. Miho began to panic, what should she do? What could she do, she was backed into a corner with no escape. The man's face soon came into view, revealing an old man who looked to be in his sixties at least due to the large grey beard that covered most of face and deep wrinkles that coated the man's forehead.

A small shriek escaped her lips, but was quickly silenced by her own hands. The man examined her for several seconds before letting out a tired sigh. " _There is warm oatmeal on the desk. I'll be out in the garage."_ The man promptly stood up and left the room closing the door as he did.

Miho sat under the bed for what felt like minutes staring at where the man used to be. She didn't know what to think, he wasn't what she had thought her captor was going to be like. He wasn't some young man who looked like he needed the money her family had. He looked as if he had helped her in some way. The fact that he didn't try to drag her out from under the bed was proof of that. Or was it? She didn't know anything about the reason why someone could kidnap a person other than what she gleamed from the various tv shows she's seen.

But there was something else she noticed, she didn't hear the man lock the door as he left. Maybe, he hadn't locked it, maybe she had found her way to escape. Quickly crawling out from under the bed and Standing up, she rushed over to the door. Reaching out she once again grabbed and twisted the door handle. Finding that it lacked any resistance that it once hand.

A wave of relief washed over her as she slowly pried the door open. Finding herself on a metal catwalk of some kind. In front of her was what looked to be an elevator shaft like the ones she'd seen in pictures of her tutor's old apartment building. To her left was a dead end while to her right was a set of metal stairs that wrapped around the wall and out of sight no doubt leading to the first floor.

She bit her lip, it was easy, too easy. Had this man really kidnapped her? Or had she just been misinterpreting the situation? No, the door was locked when she had woken up, he must have kidnapped her. Her gripped tightened on the book that she still held as the plan finalized in her mind. She would find a town, someplace where she could call her sister to ask for help, but she wouldn't tell anyone about the man that had been her host. However, she would still need his book in order to translate things.

Quickly moving from the door frame, she descended the stairs, being extra attentive to not cause any unnecessary noise. She didn't know where the man was and what he would do if he caught her running off.

As she reached the first floor, she found a large double door, the soft howl of wind coming from the other side made it clear that this was the way outside. Reaching the door, she pushed it open causing a gust of cold wind to rush into the building. A chill ran up her spine at the sudden change in temperature. Clenching the book to her chest she continued forward, leaving the building altogether, taking in her surroundings as she did.

In front of her was the same road and courtyard as before, only the garbage that covered the grass was now a lot larger. But the forest, her plan of escape was something else. It looked imposing, almost alien in a sense. Tearing her eyes away from the forest she began to look around for any sign of the man. But found nothing other than a small garage that looked like it had seen better days.

Not letting this opportunity slip by she began to jog across the courtyard ducking behind the garbage every now and again in order to try and stay hidden.

She did this several times until she came face to face with the forest when she froze in place. She didn't know why but she was scared, not like before when she watched the man approach her, no this was different. The forest felt evil like no man should ever tread its ground for fear of death. This feeling was amplified by the cry some far off monster. The will that compelled her to escape fled from her leaving her nothing but a scared girl stuck between a rock and a hard place.

" _Stop!"_ The man shouted from behind her. Looking back her eyes widened. He was carrying a gun and was running towards her. He had kidnapped her. Sweat formed on her brow, as the fear of the forest in front of her was superseded by the threat that man posed. She broke into a sprint towards the forest, praying that she would make it. It didn't matter how scary that forest seemed she had to get away from him.

A sudden unholy growl pulled her attention away from the old man, turning to face the source of the hellish sound Miho saw it. A man, or rather, what used to be a man, crawling on all fours towards her, its hands and feet caked in mud and what looked to be blood. Another terrifying sound came from the beast's maw, which lacked lips of any kind revealing its jagged and bloodied teeth. The head of the beast was covered in its most striking feature, an old battered gas mask which by some miracle it still wore, a long tube hung down from the mouth area of the mask which would have made her laugh if not for the context of the situation she found herself in.

The scream for help was stuck in her throat. How was that thing moving? Its skin was grey necrotic so how was it moving!?

The beast suddenly lunged at her with a clear intent to kill. Acting purely on instincts Miho slammed her eyes shut and dived out of the way. Her skin scrapped against the pavement, the pain muffled by the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She swiftly turned herself over, finding the beast growling as it prepares for another attack.

Two Powerful cracks pierced the air, the bullets tore through the beast with ease ending its assault. Miho stared in silence at the beast as it laid limp on the road it back in clear view of her. She was stunned. The beasts back, was torn open revealing both its spin and the bloody lower layers of skin which was speckled with maggots who gleefully ate at the dead flesh. Bile rose from her gut which she fought to keep down. And then the smell hit her. Turning to her side the contents of her stomach shot out of her mouth.

'What was that thing? Why did it look human? How could it even live with his back like that?' The same questions as before repeated themselves over and over again. It was the only thing she could focus on.

"Here." The man's voice broke her from her thoughts, her eyes widened, that was German gazing towards the source he found the man standing over her with a hand outstretched. Her gaze shifted back to the forest. What other dangers lurked within it, what would have happened if she hadn't been stopped.

Looking back to the man, she bit her lip. Reaching out she grabbed hold of the man's hand. 


	2. Into a nightmare

Mako found herself floating in an all too familiar void that had been her safe haven for years, the realm of sleep, a place where she could recharge, relax, and enjoy the fruits of life. It had been her sleep that had helped her through her low blood pressure, but it was also her bane, having been the reason why she had been late to school over two hundred times last year.

But like always, it was bound to end. This was the tail end of a dream, sooner or later Saori was going to come into her room to wake her up for some chore she would have to do today. Be it practice, or school. What day was it again? Bah, it didn't matter. Saori would tell her when she woke up, however, time continued to drag on, seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours and there was nothing.

A smile formed on Mako's face as the realization hit her. Perhaps this was one of the few days that she had off, where she could just lay in bed all day, relaxing. A sudden and loud creak of a door opening caused the smile to run off of her face. Of course, this was expecting too much but perhaps it was for the best, she had to get up eventually and Saori did make such good fo-.

The voice that suddenly threw off her train of thought, was nothing like her friend, it spoke Russian or some variant of that language and had a distinct male tone to it which confused her. None of her friends spoke Russian except for maybe Yukari but she certainly wasn't a man.

The conversation continued as more voices joined, chatting about things she couldn't understand. This sense of unknown scared her, they could be talking about all manner of things. What to do with her, how to exploit her, how they could do whatever they want to her. It didn't help that most of the men's voices blended together meaning it was impossible for her to count the number of people around her. The only voice that stood out to her was a one that sounded incredibly timid.

Time droned on as the conversation had yet to wind down. But even with the absence of meaning to the people's words, Mako assumed that whatever they were talking about, it had something to do with her, but why? This was something that made the choice of whether she should wake up difficult but it was a decision that she knew had to be made soon.

A sudden bang reverberated throughout the void, followed by another, new voice yelling at the top of his lungs. Her breath hitched in her throat as she stiffened. The choice was clear, she needed to remain asleep. The people whose voices she had no doubt been hearing, began to shuffle around which when counted brought the number to eight or nine.

As if commanded by that new voice, she felt an arm run underneath her knees and back. Then and there she had to wake up, to fight back, but her body wouldn't listen. The irony wasn't lost on her in this situation. She could almost guess what her grandmother would say to her. "This is what you get for sleeping in all the damn time!"

Not a moment later she felt a new bed take its place, only this was different. The mattress was completely uncomfortable, cold and was made of some kind of rubber-like substance. A little like leather but not quite. It reminded her a lot of the exam tables in a doctor's office.

The conversation between the voices turned aggressive. Mako couldn't tell what the voices were saying, but it was clear that they were in distress, but what had happened? A grunt escaped her lips as she tried to force her eyes open once again, which silenced the conversation around her.

Her eyes slowly opened revealing a blurry unfamiliar ceiling which looked to be made of metal that was severely rusted. Such a far cry from anything she knew that the confusion that followed was like being washed away by a massive wave that you had no chance of escaping from. Where was she?

Turning herself over she found the source of the voices, the relatively cramped room was filled with older looking men most of whom were dressed in green heavy-duty military style clothing which covered them head to toe. A sense of terror sprung up from her core as she noticed the rifles attached to their back, causing the drowsiness that had accompanied her waking to vanish instantly.

Fully alert she continued to scan the room looking for any more threats that she needed to worry about until her eyes landed on her. The one that had gotten her up a countless amount of times when she wouldn't wake up herself. Saori. She laid unconscious on the top bunk of a bunk bed, her uniform in tatters with both sleeves cut off which allowed the world to gaze at the thick gauze bandages that covered her arms.

A gasp escaped her lips as her eyes trailed her body finding her legs much in the same situation. Through her mind was a blur one question remained clear. What happened to her? What happened to them?

"Hello?" The somber voiced asked which startled her. The man whose voice had been so quiet stood over her. His plain face and slicked back hair did little to hide his seemingly empty gaze, devoid of emotions which did little to ease the terror that was consuming her. "Might I ask your name?" The man asked in English.

Mako remained silent, this time not for a lack of understanding, she knew English, in fact, she was one of the best in her class when it came to the language. No, it was the situation she found herself in. The rusted room, the armed men, and her unconscious friend all attributed to this fear that silenced her. She couldn't tell why she stayed silent, she knew there was no way out of this. Perhaps it was in a vain hope that a way out would present itself.

Working up the courage she swallowed the fear and opened her mouth. "Mak-" but was suddenly cut off by a wave nausea that was followed up by her puke up whatever she had left in her stomach.

"Shit!" the man chided himself as he began to fish through the drawers of some unseen piece of furniture.

As soon as it ended, she flipped back onto her back, nausea replaced with fatigue why did she feel so tired? She had just woken up.

She attempted to force herself to stay awake as she had always done before. But it soon was clear that it was a losing battle. The weight of her eyelids mounted until they slowly closed shut. As she descended back into the void, the last thing she heard was once again, those voices.

xXXXx

A groan escaped Mako's lips as she opened her eyes, finding herself in the same rusted room as before, only now it was silent, all except for faint breathing that sounded as if it as if it was right on top of her.

Tilting her head, she found herself still dressed in her uniform with Saori sitting next to her bed, resting her head on her stomach, fast asleep. Her breathing was calm and measured as if she had turned in after a typical day at school. However, the thing that caught Mako's attention was her clothing, gone was the tattered uniform, replaced with a thick brown wool sweater, which she assumed was the only replacement as knowing Saori, she wouldn't have worn anything of the sort.

All this lead her to question just how long had she been out?

Sitting up, she got a better view of the room, finding it in much the same state as before. The man that had been dragged into the room when she was last awake, now slept peacefully on the bottom bunk of the bed across from her. He wore the same green suit that the other men had been wearing, only it was in ruin. Three large slash marks ran across the torso, causing a chill to run her spine. What kind of beast could do such a thing?

Her mind ran in circles, filled with all matter of assertions and question, the most pressing of which was simply her location, just, where were they? Weren't they going to Britain? She doubted that even the poorest parts of the United Kingdom had rundown hospitals and armed men just walking around. But that lead to another question, whether these people were benevolent or not.

Gazing towards the girl that slept nearby she felt her anxiety begin to ease, at least she wasn't alone, and if Saori being healed was any indication, these men had no ill intentions, or they had yet to show it.

Reaching out she placed a hand on the sleeping redhead, causing a small smile to form on her face which Mako couldn't help but mimic.

"Ah, you're awake."

The smile instantly ran off her face as her gaze immediately shot to the door in time to find that soulless man staring at her. Her mouth went dry in fear as her eyes travelled down to the man's hands which held a plain metal bowl and a mug.

"I must apologize," The man started as he walked on over towards her, placing the bowl and mug on a nearby table. "The men that had brought you here had, regrettably, forgotten to tell me where they had picked you up. Had I known that you and your friend were found at different locations I wouldn't have assumed that you were radiation free after checking her."

Mako sat there in silence. She knew that she had to reply to the man, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't who he claimed to be, there was something off about him, something feral. This mystery constricted her mind, she wanted to know, she needed to know what this man was hiding.

Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind. "It's, no problem." She stated before looking to the bowl, which contained something that looked like stew if the steaming brown broth and succulent chunks of what seemed to be meat were anything to go by. She quickly shook herself from her thoughts, this wasn't the time to get hungry.

"Well seeing as you have an appetite, you must be getting better."

Mako bit her lip, the man was right, she was indeed hungry, starving even, but now wasn't the time to let her stomach take control, she needed answers. "Where are we? What do you mean Picked up?"

The man gazed down at her for but a moment before turning and sitting at his desk a few feet away. "I'm willing to answer your question, but I'm curious about you as well."

"Couldn't you have gotten my friend to tell you?"

The man said nothing instead choosing to stare at her making his answer clear.

A tired sigh escaped her lips. "Fine." She had no choice, was no leverage that she had in this situation.

"How did you two end up in Zaton?"

A scowl formed her face. "I would have to know where _here_ is?"

"Just answer the question."

Closing her eyes, she attempted to remember what had led up to her waking up here. They were heading to the tournament that she was certain of, there were picked up by Kay and then. What then? Had the plane landed? Had they watched the tournament? It all seemed right but also wrong. "I... I don't remember." She stuttered. Why couldn't she remember? She was one of the top students at Ooarai with a great memory so why?

The man hummed to himself. "Well, you wouldn't be the first person to just wake up in the zone." The man stated.

But she still had questions of her own "Where is Zaton?"

"I was getting to that." Leaning down the man opened a drawer to his desk and pulled out a folded piece of laminated paper that he tossed next to her.

Mako's gaze shifted between the man and the paper several times before she finally opened it, revealing it to be a map of a heavily forested area with settlements dotted around it. However, the thing that caught her attention was the title. 'Chernobyl exclusion zone.' Chernobyl? Wasn't that in Ukraine? What were they doing in eastern Europe?

"From your surprised reaction, I take it that you're nowhere near where you're supposed to be?"

A single nod was the only action, her confused mind could formulate.

"You're are currently in Zaton, a small swamp, deep within the zone. Which is a sort of nickname for the area surrounding the Chernobyl national power plant that its residents came up with." Residents? "But this place is probably the worst location for you to have woken up in. Which goes back to why I asked you how you ended up here. The Ukranian military has sectioned off the entirety of the zone, to the north are mine fields that even the most experienced stalkers have no chance in getting through and if you were to come from the south, you would have to go through miles of irradiated forests and swamps all the while dodging mutants and bandits alike. Something you couldn't do in your current set up."

The man paused as if he knew of the whirlwind of emotions she was currently going through. But how could she not be? Mutants, radiation, minefields. How on earth was she supposed to react to all that information that was just dumped on her. Not only that but how come this was never talked about, from what she knew about Chernobyl, it was just a meltdown that happened in the 80's, there's no mutants and while yes the Ukranian military did have a quarantine of the area she very much doubted it went as far as this. No, she couldn't think about it like this, she needed to get out of this place and back to her grandmother.

A gasped escaped her lips at the thought of her grandmother, she swiftly reached up to touched her head band and let out a sigh of relief as the familiar texture confirmed that she still had it on. As panic subsided her mind returned to the conversation, a single question left to be asked. "How do we get out of this 'zone'?"

"That's easier said than done. The military that patrols the outskirts of the zone and has a shoot on sight policy when it comes to trespassers. Not to mention the only real safe gap in the minefield is down at the cordon."

"Wouldn't they make an exception for two girls?"

The man simply shook his head. "I very much doubt that. these men see the worst in humanity every day, not to mention that their commander was always drunk from what I remember."

"So... we're stuck here?"

"Not, necessarily. Cruelty comes with corruption, if you have the money, you could bribe the commander to let you out of the zone. Although it's been some time since I last left, it still probably takes a small fortune."

Mako let herself fall back onto the bed too weak from the realization that their life was essentially over to stop it. They were stuck here, what, what were they supposed to do now? She only had around a hundred thousand yen with her for spending money, and she doubted Saori had much more than that.

"Is... Is there any way to make money in this zone?" She asked, her gaze still fixated on the ceiling.

"Of course. Most people who come to the zone come to get rich. Although the work is dangerous, from what I hear people make good money."

Audibly gulping at the implications, she asked her next question. "What work are you talking about?"

"Mostly hunting down artifacts, which reside in deadly anomalies but you would be better off asking beard for the details as he was originally a stalker before setting up in this boat."

The word deadly did little to calm her nerves but at least she had options. "And by deadly you mean?"

"let's just say that if you brush up against one, you'll ether end up here for a few weeks, or more than likely, dead."

A cold sweat ran down her back at the man's words. "And, there's no other way to make money around here?"

"Well, people sometimes have things they need done, and there's always _that_ type of work, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you want some bug."

Mako shook her head in denial. This couldn't be the only options, surly the people around here would be kind enough to help them. I mean those men were armed and you only need to be armed if there's danger, right? No one would willingly send school girls to their possible deaths. Right? "I... see. Wouldn't people off-"

Before she could complete the sentence, she was suddenly scooped up into a tight hug. "Mako, you're alright."

Orange hair obscured her view, giving her a clear clue as to who the voice belonged too. "Saori."

"I'm so glad you're alright you had me so worried."

"I'm fine." She told the girl in her usual flat tone.

The girl pulled away, allowing Mako to see the girls watering eyes. "You, are Mako right? This isn't some dream that I'm going to wake up from and find myself alone again."

Mako internally groaned at the cheesy line she no doubt picked up from the countless TV shows she watched, but the fear written in her eyes stopped her from making her annoyance open. "Like I said I'm fine."

"You were asleep for such a long time, and I couldn't communicate with any of the people here to figure out if you were fine."

"I am though."

Saori's head tilted forward hiding her expression from Mako as faint sobs began to emanate from her. "Damn it Mako." She spoke through gritted teeth muffling the sadness in her voice.

A sudden twinge of guilt struck Mako at her core. Here her friend sat in front of her happy to see that she was safe and she went and ruined it. Was this what her grandmother meant about learning to be tactful?

"I know I shouldn't expect anything more but please understand."

Thinking on her feet, she reached out and grabbed hold of the girl's arms pulling her over the bed and into a hug which the redhead was all too eager to return. "I'm fine." She assured her.

The pair stayed locked in the embrace, nether one of them wanting to be the one to break it. The anxiety that had consumed her since she woke up slowly began to melt away, replaced with a new warmth, of being with a friend.

The moment however was suddenly ruined by a growl from Mako's stomach which broke the calm atmosphere. "Ah, I should have figured you were going to be hungry, I mean sleeping for three days is a bit much, even for you" Saori joked as she pulled away wiping away a single tear as she did.

"He brought me food..." She started as she shifted her gaze to where the doctor once stood only to find that he had vanished causing her voice to trail off. Where did he go?

Following her eyes, Saori found the same empty space that the man once filled. "Who?"

"That doctor." The redhead instantly went rigid at the mention of the man. Perhaps she wasn't the only one that felt off around him. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Saori replied, scratching her arm. "It's just that when, I had just woken up, he asked for a blood sample. Only when he went to perform it, he was trembling. Which caused him to miss the vain a couple of times."

"I thought you said you couldn't communicate with him."

"Well, he didn't really communicate, more like he showed me a symbol of blood and a needle before pointing at me."

"You could have done that to figure out if I was fine or not." Mako bluntly stated. But Why didn't that doctor use symbols to explain that she wasn't in any real danger? Something wasn't adding up and that left Mako without a clue as to his aim.

"Oh, come on Mako, you've only been up for a couple of minutes and you're already being rude."

Mako said nothing, instead choosing to reach out and attempt to eat it. But what she originally saw as delicious stew proved to be anything but, causing her to have second thoughts about eating it. The brown broth had a thin layer of film atop it, the chunks of meat that were within looked even worse having a distinct grey hue to it. Meanwhile the vegetables if you could even call them that, were sparse and looked about as old as the bowl they were contained in, being the same grey hue as the meat.

All this combined to make a girl who was starving, with food that looked like it had been prepared in the middle of a steel mill. Her sight traveled up to her friend who simply stared back at her in understanding, stating. "You get used to it." Which did little to ease her doubts, since it was an obviously a lie.

An internal struggle broke out, her common sense screamed at her to not eat the food, while her hunger implored her to do the opposite. Gazing back at the bowl it was clear that this passed for food in the zone and if she didn't want to starve, she would need to get used to it. grabbed hold of the fork that lad inside the bowl, she swallowed her doubts and silently prayed that whoever had prepared this meal had the decency to at least clean the fork. Impaling a piece of meat, she swiftly lifted it out of the bowl and quickly took a bite, before her doubt could sway her actions.

And she immediately regretted that once the putrid taste registered, causing her to gag and nearly throw up which was thankfully stopped when she reflexively planted a hand on her face. Her hunger pushed her through the sense of disgust, forcing herself to slowly chew the tough meat and swallow when it was all said and done.

This continued on for nearly half an hour, with each bite of food being a battle between her hunger and her taste-buds. The bowl was now empty, her hunger sated, if only partially. But with her stomach no longer pestering her, she could do nothing but think upon her situation. With Saori up, she could ask her the question that had been weighing down her mind since she woke up.

Setting down the bowl on the table next to her she spoke up. "Where is everyone else."

A flash of surprise showed on Saori's face for but a moment, before she turned away as if in shame. "I... I don't know, when I woke up several days ago you were the only one that was here. I looked for them, at least on the ship. But there was no one I could recognize."

They were on a ship? That would explain why the entire room was made of metal but what about the rust. "So, we're alone?"

"Again, I don't know. I, tried to leave, but some of the men stopped me."

"That may have been for the best." Mako muttered to herself. If that doctor was telling the truth, then Saori wouldn't survive out there. But was he? Or was this a rather cunning way to make them stay put. No that didn't make sense, he was talking about us needing to make money to survive.

"What?"

"Nothing." Mako stated. "Where's your uniform?" She questioned quickly changing the topic.

"Oh." Saori started before pulling the collar of her sweater forward allowing Mako to see the faint green of her uniforms collar. "I still have it, but I can't really show it off because. Well... When I woke up, my sleeves were gone, and they just handed me this wool shirt, a pair of jeans and new boots. Although it's not really my style, the cold was just too much for me not to wear it."

"Ah." That would make sense, if they were in eastern Europe, it would no doubt be colder then back home on the carrier. Still. That begged the question, just where were the rest of her friends? Knowing that it was pointless to dwell on this question any further, she swung her feet off of the exam table and onto the floor, whose cold surface could be felt through her socks. "Where are my shoes?"

Saori reached down and pulled her shoes out from under the table and handed it to her. While putting them on she caught a good look at the rest of Saori's clothes, dull blue jeans and rugged hiking boots that looked a little too big for her.

As she stood up to her full height, she noticed a note sitting upon the desk written in crude English asking her to go see beard once she had gotten up. Perhaps she could ask him if they had seen any other girls. "Come on Saori."

"What? Where are you going?"

"The note asked us to meet with a man named Beard once I was up."

"You speak English?"

Mako glared at her, they learned the language in the exact same class, yet she had to be the translator?

Saori caught the hint and resigned to silently follow her. Reaching the door, she grabbed hold of the rusted handle, and pulled it open. A chorus of laughter and conversations in Russian pushed its way into the room breaking the silence that she had grown used too. Ignoring it, she took in her surroundings finding herself at an intersection of sorts. In front of her was another door that was propped open allowing her to see a man standing behind a makeshift counter gazing down at something that looked like one of those smartphones most westerns used.

Seeing as that was most likely a dead end, she turned to her left the only other option available and immediately came to another crossroad. Directly to her right was a staircase hugging the wall that lead up to the next floor. The stairs itself reminded her of the ones back on the Ooarai, which was a clear sign that this was indeed a ship. The hall continued on past the staircase eventually ending at a closed door.

To her left was a larger staircase that covered the entirety of the hall which lead down towards the source of the noise. Seeing that as the most likely place for this Beard to be, she proceeded down the stairs, leading her into a large common room built into, what she assumed, was the cargo hold, where nearly a dozen men, clad in different types of clothing ranging from simple jackets to full body armour, stood around, eating, drinking and chatting away. And by the tone of voice it seemed that they were happy?

It confused her, how could they be so happy, wasn't this place supposed to be extremely dangerous? Where starvation, a concept that was all but forgotten back in Japan, was a genuine threat?

"Ah, so you're up." A joyous voice that was thick with a Russian accent called out to them. Shifting her gaze to the source, Mako Found a rather large man with a beard to match his figure leaning over another makeshift counter, gesturing them to come over.

Doing as they were told, the pair walked up to the man. "So, you're Beard?" Mako asked before the man could even get in another word.

The smile ran away from his face as he narrowed his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips. "Tremor warned me about just how brash you can be, you best temper that attitude of yours unless you want to a knife in your back." The seriousness of the man's tone made her blood run cold. "But I guess it's straight to business. I've heard that you've shown interest in nabbing artifacts for me, and I'm prepared to help you start out."

The man slowly reached underneath the counter and soon began placing various items upon it. Two thick leather jackets, a wool sweater, jeans, boots, six strange looking devices that she couldn't fathom a purpose for, a belt and finally box of rusted bolts. "I never said I wanted to work."

"Yes, but what choice do you have?"

"Couldn't we stay here? Where its safe, while we wait to be rescued?"

The man let out a low chuckle. "Look, I don't want to burst your bubble, but the military doesn't do rescue. Hell, they can hardly maintain a perimeter not to mention the fact that any search party that gets through the military will get bogged down by the stalkers, mutants, anomalies and emissions. No, you want out of the Zone then you'll need to escape yourself."

A sense of hopelessness washed over her. What was she to do, if that doctor had been telling the truth, could they even survive? She needed time to try and figure out all this. She couldn't make a decision that would affect both of them. "Can I think about it?"

"Well, you have until tonight when a friend of mine returns." The answer caused her to raise an eyebrow in confusion which caused him to continue. "I have a friend of mine that will be teaching you the ins and outs of surviving in the zone, I wouldn't be able to sleep right if I just threw you to the wolves."

So it wasn't a choice. They were going to end up doing this whether they wanted to or not. "Is there a place where I can speak to my friend in private."

"I set aside a room for you two, its up on the top floor and directly to your left you can't miss it."

"Thanks." Was all Mako said before she grabbed the items that were on the counter. "Come on Saori."

As they began to ascend the stairs, Saori spoke up. "Mako, what were you talking about with that man? Did you figure out where we are?"

"I'll explain it to you once we get set up.

The pair followed the directions and soon came face to face with their 'room' which would be better to be described as a closet, hardly being big enough to fit the single old mattress that took up most of the floor space. "What's this?" Saori voiced boomed in her ear a strong reminder that this was indeed reality.

Dropping the things off in the corner she quickly got to changing into her new clothes before turning back to Saori. "Our new home."

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Well chapter 2 is done and here we see Mako and Saori the second pov that we will be following in this story. hope you guys enjoyed this and i hope to hear what you think.**_


	3. A start to a new life

She couldn't sleep.

No matter how hard Mako tried, she couldn't do it. It wasn't due to the loud music being played at the bar at the bottom of the ship, nor was it due to how cramped of their current sleeping arrangement was and the redhead currently clinging to her.

No, it was dread. The unknown. She was never good with new locations, always suffering from a bout of insomnia whenever she moved. It happened when she moved in with her grandmother and happened again when she moved onto the school carrier when she entered high school.

But this, felt different. The other times she had felt out of place. Now she felt as if something was watching her, even with the door to her room closed and sealed, she still felt studyed

It didn't help that the man that was supposed to oversee their "training" had yet to have shown up.

So, here she laid, stuck staring at a rusted ceiling in a rusted ship in the middle of who knows where.

Gazing to the window of her room, she noticed the subtle amount of light peeping through the cracks in the metal shutters that had been welded into place. Behind it, the zone that she had yet to see.

Letting out a sigh she grabbed her new device and switched it on, the foreign characters filled the screen, but the 6:04 in the upper right corner was a clear indication of the time.

Had it really been that long?

Returning her gaze to the rusted metal ceiling above her, she contemplated what to do. She wasn't going to sleep, that much was clear.

Letting out a deep break, she removed the blanket covering her. The cold air rushed in, kissing the skin uncovered by the tank top she had been given.

A chill running down her spine, she looked over to Saori, who was in the same predicament. Grabbing the girl's arm, she carefully peeled it off of her and was able to slip out of her friends grip without waking her.

Now free, she grabbed her sweater that had been discarded the night before and put it on. The coarse fabric inched, but the potential warmth it brought was more than worth the slight discomfort.

Having slept in the oversized cargo pants provided to her all she had to do was tighten the belt and stuff the ends of her pants into her socks she quietly put on her socks and boots before grabbing her jacket.

Taking one last look at the uncomfortable sleeping girl, she muttered an apology before twisting the rusted wheel on the door and pushing it open.

Light, laughter and the distinct smell of cigarettes flooded into the room, plastering the redhead in the face and causing her to stir. Sticking her PDA in her pocket and Quickly exiting the room, Mako slowly closed the door. With that done, she turned to the source of the laughter, finding a group of three men dressed in various outfits, from a similar jacket to what she was given to the weird green suits that she had seen the night before.

The laughter came to an abrupt end as the trio noticed the girl. Whispers were traded while their staring intensified.

Unease grew within her prompting her to leave. Rounding a corner to a door that she assumed led out onto the deck of the ship, she was met with a rather large man in both height and width, dressed in a sweater and holding a large rifle in one hand, as well as a glass bottle in the other. The blush and dazed gaze that focused on her was a clear indication that this man wasn't all there.

An arm wrapped around the man as what she assumed to be the man's friend came out from behind, telling the man something in Russian before gently nudging him forward. Only to suddenly stop as he noticed her.

Just like before, the pair stared at her like she was some show animal.

Stepping to the side, she let the pair leave who continued to stare at her, only stopping when the larger man missed a step and tumbled down the stairs.

With a sudden shout, the helping hand rushed down the stairs, leaving her alone on the top floor.

Looking back to where she was going, she found the door open the dreary dark world. A sudden gust of wind sent a chill down her spine.

Why did it have to be so cold?

Putting on her jacket, she let out a deep breath and stepped out onto the deck and what felt like another world.

Gray clouds hung overhead, blanketing her view in a dull twilight. Before her was a massive dimly lit marshland, reeds sprouted out of the ground in clumps between the puddles that dotted the ground above the marsh trees and bushes scattered what was once the beach and massive rusted pipes darted into the ground, seemingly to travel under the lake.

Several cracks pierced the air, followed by some inhuman howling.

Fireworks?

No this wasn't japan, that was gunshots. That had to be.

A sudden shout in Russian from behind her made her blood run cold. Looking over her shoulder, she saw another burly man in only a tank top, his hand placed on the wheel of the door.

Without warning, the man slammed it shut and in a state of panic, Mako rushed open to the door, grabbing the handle, twisting it and thankfully opening it. Letting out a sigh of relief, she gently closed the door.

She hadn't been locked out. After mulling it over, it became clear that the man was probably mad about leaving the door open.

Letting out another sigh, she went back to gazing out at the otherworldly scene before her. Grabbing with a single hand, she began to circle the ship but found nothing unique. It was the same no matter where she went, dreary marshlands, reeds and rusted or broken boats sitting motionless.

A small growl pulled her attention to a pack of creatures in the distance who's designed was beyond all comprehension. Its round body was propped up on four stick-like appendages that were in a vague shape of a leg. But what confused her the most was the flat looking face that looked vagely human.

It only then did she realize just how deep in the shit she found herself. Arms resting on the railing, she let her head fall.

What were they to do? Like the doctor said, they would need money, but...

No, all they had to do was listen to what their teacher had to say, save money only spend what was needed, and they would be out of here in no time.

A chuckle escaped her lips. Since when did she sound like Saori? Glancing up to gaze at the moon, she couldn't help but feel homesick.

She couldn't help but wonder what her grandmother was up too.

Letting out a tired sight, she Pulled out her PDA, she flipped it on once more. 'Might as well figure this out.'

Turning it on, she was once again greeted by the strange screen covered in Russian characters set up in a sort of news feed with what looked like news stories on either side of the screen.

Scrolling down with a flick of her thumb, she was soon greeted by the end of the news feed.

With nothing else of interest on the page, she shifted her gaze to the top and the several buttons that lined the top of the page. Pushing the one furthest to the left, she soon found herself looking at a map of the zone. Each distinct area was marked off with names that were, of course, written in the foreign language.

Pressing down on the next word on the menu, she found herself staring at a dark box whose center had a simple two-word phrase along with a small bar positioned underneath it containing a little blue line that was darting back and forth.

After a few moments, the screen was filled with text, set up in short sentences and stacked one on top of each other. It reminded her of an old internet chat room. Her theory was confirmed as new messages popped up at the bottom of the screen.

With yet another sigh, she switched to the next tab, which contained a blank black screen whose only notable marking as a single plus sign on the bottom left of the screen.

Pressing down on the button, a white box popped up, followed quickly by a digital keyboard.

'Notes?' She wondered to herself.

"There you are." The familiar voice of Saori declared from behind her.

Looking over her shoulder, Mako found her standing by the door dressed up in the same thick jacket she was wearing. Looking back to the swamp before her, she shut off her PDA and stuffed it back into her pocket.

"What are you doing out here?" The ginger asked, walking over to her and taking her place next to her.

"Couldn't sleep," Mako muttered.

The ginger let out a genuine chuckle. "Really? You couldn't sleep? Maybe being stranded here is a good thing.

Mako tilted her head slightly to glare at the girl. It was clear that it was a joke, but this was hardly the time.

"I didn't mean to wake you." The dark-haired girl stated.

"You didn't."

Confusion grew on Mako's face until she continued.

"The man who's supposed to train us. He's here."

Glancing over her shoulder, she found herself staring at a Tall annoyed Asian man, dressed up in that strange green suit. Three visible guns caused Mako to pause, one hung in a sling by his waist next to a pistol in a holster while the final gun hung behind his back. "Is that?"

"Yes, I am, now follow me." The man declared in clear Japanese leaving no room for argument.

Mako glanced to her friend, silently hoping that this was some sort of joke she was playing on her but as the redhead began to saunter over to the man, it was clear that she wasn't.

'Just what did I get myself into?' She asked herself.

Jogging the catch-up, the group re-entered the ship and descended down to the bar area and to an empty table.

Much like the night before, music was playing from some unseen radio. Men conversed while occasionally glancing over to them. Cigarette smoke pooled at the ceiling. The only difference was now men were eating what food was offered here.

Setting his bag down, the man gestured them to sit across from him, before turning and digging through his bag.

As Mako watched him she couldn't help but fidget in her seat at how uncomfortable her situation was. Glancing to her friend made it clear with her pursed lips were in her own state of unease.

The man let out a small sigh as he pulled out what he was looking for. Two black pistols, both of which looked nearly identical to each other. The only difference was that one was quite a bit larger than the other.

The man set the pair of guns of the table before reaching back into his backpack and pulling out several other items. Including what looked to be the clips for the pistols if the springs that could be seen within were any indication, as well as a box with 9X18 written on the side of it.

"These are the guns so thoughtfully provided to you by Beard." The man stated, pushing them forward before picking up the smaller one. "This is the Makarov semi-automatic pistol. It can hold eight plus one, it's accurate, simple to clean, and best of all, the ammo is dirt cheap." The man then turned his attention to the larger gun. "This is the Stechkin APS pistol. Like the Makarov, its simple to clean and accurate, but it boasts a larger magazine at twenty rounds and can also be fired in full auto. However, you shouldn't ever use it unless you find yourself a stock." he finished finally putting the gun back down "You'll have to decide for yourself who will get what."

The pair of girls eyed the weapons uncertain what to do now. "isn't this... you know. Going a bit too fast?" Saori asked, clearly uncomfortable with the thought of holding a gun.

The man leaned forward on his elbows. "As much as you may not like it, guns are your key to your survival, so, if you want to get out of here. You best learn how to use them."

An uncomfortable silence grew between the group. Looking to Saori, it was clear to Mako that she wasn't going to make the first move. Her slumped shoulders and gaze fixed on the ground made that clear.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she reached out and grabbed the smaller pistol and pulled it over to her. "Is it loaded?" That seemed like a safe question.

"No."

'Ok, so he's that type of person.' Letting out a deep breath, she raised the gun to look it over. "Are you going to teach us how to shoot?"

"It's what I was paid to do. But first, you'll learn how to load the magazines." The man picked up one of the clips closer as well as the marked box opening it to reveal several dozen bullets pointed up to the ceiling.

The man quickly went over how to load the magazines. A simple process of pushing down on a round and sliding another one in until it was filled to capacity. This was something she found easy, due in part to the fact that she always kept her nails short. She saw no use for long nails, unlike Saori who for several reasons, kept them long.

So, it wasn't too much of a surprise that she and a tiny bit more trouble with the rounds, but after finding their rhythm, it wasn't long until the first magazines had been finished.

She couldn't help but smile as she set the magazine down. Even Saori seemed slightly pleased with herself.

However, all sense of accomplishment was dashed as the man pulled several more magazines out of his bag.

Mako glanced up at the man wondering if this was a joke of some sort but like Saori before, it clearly wasn't.

Internally sighing, the pair got to work filling each and every magazine that was presented to them. Their fingers grew sore, and patents tested as the man seemed to keep finding more magazines to fill until ten magazines were sitting in a pile front of them.

A groan escaped the redhead's mouth as she rubbed the tips of fingers into the palm of her hand. "Is this really necessary?"

"Considering that you're two young girls who've probably never held a gun before you'll need all the practice you can get." The man explained. "Now, where is your backpack?"

"Backpack?" Saori muttered.

The man looked at the pair, confused for a single moment until an aggresive sigh escaped the man mouth. Turning in his chair, he shouted something at Beard in that strange language in an aggressive, argumentative tone.

The barkeep shouted something back that only seemed to infuriate the man even more. The shouting match grew more heated as both sides traded what seemed like insults if the laughter from the other occupants of the bar was anything to go by.

Eventually, the argument calmed down with the barkeep coming out on top. The man let out a huff before returning to the pair. I need you to go collect everything in your room.

Now it was Mako's turn to be confused. "Why would we need to c-" But she was cut off by a small gesture to the rest of the bar.

"Do you really trust these men not to go sifting through your stuff while you're out?"

Mako could see the man's point, most the men looked about as trustworthy as a drunken salaryman outside a girls' school.

"Either way." the man continued. "I need you to go collect your stuff before we leave."

Mako couldn't help but agree with the man, standing up she tugged on Saori's arm to get her to follow her and made her way up to the top floor and began collecting every single piece of equipment she had been given.

It only then did she genuinely appreciate her jacket and cargo pants, which came with a multitude of pockets that could easily hold everything they have been given.

After looking over their room for anything they had missed, the pair returned to the bar where the man was waiting, his backpack and guns on his back.

The man once again gestured to follow him and walked over to a door at the back of the bar.

Before he could reach the door, it opened, and another person walked in. His eyes immediately darted to them, ignoring their Asian instructor. The man was different from the others, he was Clean, she couldn't quite tell what was different, but if she were to guess it would be his eyes and the way he carried himself.

It reminded her of Miho's sister. The military might she projected and the confidence in her stride. The man was military that much she could tell.

Mako and Saori attempted to walk past him, only for an outstretched arm to stop them. Glancing up the man, he uttered a serious of words, no doubt a simple question, but it was one she couldn't answer.

A sudden shout from their caught his attention and seemingly placating the man, he pulled his arm back to let them through.

As the pair left the ship, she couldn't help but wonder, just what did that man say.

xXXXx

Major Degtyarev had seen quite a few things in the zone that perplexed him, but after coming back to the Skadovsk after investigating the beached barge for the source of that weird bluish glow. But seeing young teenage girls this deep in the zone had to have been the oddest.

But something wasn't right.

As he made his way over to bar, he got the strange artifact out of his container holder and placed it on the counter.

"So this what was causing the light those stalkers were talking about," Beard said, looking it over. "I'll give you eight thousand for it."

"What's with those two kids?" Beards only raised an eyebrow at his comment prompting him to continue. "What are two kids doing this deep in the zone? Are they being trafficked?"

Beard let out a sigh. "You're new to the zone, aren't you."

"I've been around, but I've never seen anything like this."

Beard reached down beneath the counter and produced two shot glasses and a bottle of vodka. "There are things about the zone that can't be explained." Pouring the alcohol into the glasses, he took on and threw it back. A scowl emerged on his face as the booze ran down his throat. "Those girls are one of them."

"You're saying that like they're somesort of Anomaly."

"They are." Confusion grew on the Major's face prompting him to continue. "Women are a rare sight in the zone. Most hide their sex and mask their voices. However, girls, around their age, are far more common. For the past two years, they've been popping up here and there." The man shifted on the barstool he was sitting on, causing it to creak. "Most don't last long, usually eaten by a mutant, raped and killed by some horny bandit, zombified by an emission or worst comes to worst, killed by their own hands. I've personally seen at least three of those girls before those two."

"What happened to them?"

"Two of them ended up dead. The last one, well I'm not quite sure what happened. Last I know she was working for freedom down at the army warehouses." The man took the other shot and slamed it back. "That was well before the brainscorcher went down.

"And you're sure they weren't trafficked into the zone."

Beard let out a single laugh. "I doubt any of them could have made it this far, no matter how many men they had guarding them. But no, they all share the same story. They were riding in an aircraft when it hit an anomaly, and when they woke up, they were here."

The Major remained silent for several moments. "So, what are you doing about them?" That was probably the best question to go with.

"I'll have them trained in how to be a proper stalker. And hopefully, they one day make it out of here."

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Sorry for the long wait for this, i sort have fallen out of love with gup but i think im back in my stride. As for the Miho storyline, i think I'm going to put it on hold for a bit and focus on Mako and Saori. But i do have a few snips of other girls if you would like me to post those now that we know that other girls have arrived in the zone.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and i hope you are patient with new chapters.**_


	4. Training begins

A yelp echoed across the marshland.

The source of which was the out of place redhead whose leg had sunk down into the thick mud.

Mako was quick on her feet, at her side in an instant helping out of the mud, a constant on this trip of theirs that had been miserable from the get-go.

Coldwater flooded their boots, mosquitoes harassing them while mud-built upon their pants. it was a far cry from what they had been used too. There was no such thing as mosquitoes on their school carriers, the ocean was a poor location for such an animal.

But perhaps the worst thing of all was the sun. The chilliness of the morning was quickly replaced by the hot sun that when combined with the marsh, caused the air to grow heavy as the puddles that darted the landscape began to evaporate.

This caused Mako to reevaluate her stance on the jacket that she had been given. While she would still praise the utility of the pockets. The thick leather that insulated her from the cold this morning, had quickly turned into a suffocating coffin.

Working through the heat, she reached down and attempted to pull her friend out of the thick mud.

"How often have I told you to watch your step." Their instructor said. Coming over and grabbing the girl by the arm and hoisting her up out of the mud and setting her down on what small bit of dry land nearby. "Now come on, we still have a bit of a way to the Shevchenko."

That was another issue. Ever since they had left their instructor had grown more irritable. "Shevechenko?" Mako asked.

The man said nothing and only pointed to the rusted hulk of a ship which could just barely be seen through the flowing reeds of the marsh.

As the trio continued their trek, the redhead couldn't help but groan. "Not ten minutes after stepping off and I'm already covered in mud..." Saori suddenly smacked an unseen bug that had apparently landed on her exposed neck. "And we're getting eaten alive."

"It could be worse," Mako added.

"Of course, it can be worse Mako. But compared to the Ooarai this is practical hell." She explained swatting at more mosquitos. "Um. Excuse me." Saori started grabbing the man's attention.

"What is it?" The man replied annoyed.

"Is there any way to clean our clothing on the Skadovsk?"

"You grab a bucket of marsh water and a washboard and scrub it off."

"And to wash ourselves?"

The man laughed. "You would have to go all the way to Yanov if you want a shower. So you best get comfortable with the feeling of being di-" The man instantly went silent, and stopped dead in his tracks sticking out his hand to get the girls to do the same.

Gesturing to get down, he crouched and pulled his gun off of his back.

Mako listened for what could have startled the man. Frogs croaked around them. In the distance, dogs could be heard barking. The reeds in front of them rustled, from some unseen creature.

Her breathing hastened as her mind was filled with images of monsters from the various horror movies she had watched. Perhaps it was one of those strange creatures she had seen before while up on the Skadovsk.

Pointing to his back, the pair shuffled over behind him as the rustling grew louder. The man brought his other hand back to his shotgun and lifted the gun to his shoulder.

Reeds slowly parted, and an all to familiar figure of a dog walked out. The pair couldn't help but feel a tang of sadness at the sickly white dog whose outline of ribs could be seen through its skin.

The dog looked around, seemingly blind to their presence. Sniffing at the ground, the dog continued to walk around.

That was when she noticed its milky white eyes. 'So, is it blind?'

Saori, biting her lip, worked her way over to their mentor. "Do you have anything you can give that dog?" She whispered.

The man looked back at her in disbelief, as if she had just uttered a heresy. The man quickly shook himself out of his stunned gaze and simply muttered. "Deadly."

The redhead looked between the man and the dog, currently stretched out.

Putting his gun away, he brought a single finger to his mouth to tell the girls to be silent before reaching down and pulling out a knife from its holster attached to his belt.

Turning it around into a reverse grip, he cautiously approached the dog, making his intentions clear to the pair. "Hey what do you plan to do to the dog!" Saori shouted.

The dog instantly bolted towards the source of the sound. Screaming filled Mako's ears as the dog pounced on the girl throwing her off balance and toppling her over into a puddle. As luck would have it she had been able to get a hold of the dog's neck, stopping it mere inches away from her throat.

Tears began to form in the corner of her eyes "Mako!" She shouted in desperation. The call of her name pulled her out of the adrenaline based stupor she was in. Taking a large step to the girl she whirled back her leg and kicked the dog in the ribs.

This didn't get it off of her as she had intended, the only thing it did do was cause the dog to let out a pained yelped that struck her in her soul. Leaning forward and bringing her leg back, she kicked it again and again, until it struggled out of Saori's grip and running off back into the reed.

A deafening crack filled the air, forcing their eyes shut and to cover their ringing ears. "God, what was that?" Mako muttered to herself, barely able to hear herself think. Glancing to where the dog had scurried off to lay the corpse of their attacker.

Shutting her eyes yet again, Mako focused on attempting to will the ringing away.

The ringing slowly faded, allowing the small girl to return her focus on her friend who simply laid in the stagnant water, her teary eyes fixed on the sky. "Why?" She muttered.

Mako said nothing, extending out a hand to help the girl out. The girl didn't accept it. "Why did it attack me?"

"Because you didn't fucking listen to me!" Their mentor shouted enraged as he walked over. "You're lucky that one was old and alone. If it was a pack of dogs you would all be fucking dead."

"That's uncalled for." Mako countered.

"No, you two need to start fucking listening to me or you're both going to end up dead just like all the other girls that show up here!"

Mako stared at the man, mouth open, and eyes wide. It felt like she had just been punched in the chest. "What... do you mean by that?" She asked, just barely audible.

"You think you're the first girls I've taught, because you're not!" The man stomped over to a wide-eyed Saori and grabbed her by the wrist, yanking her up onto her trembling legs. "They all acted just like you, didn't take threats seriously, didn't listen to my advice and ended up dead!"

Dead?

Mako's breathing grew erratic, "Who?" She mumbled.

"Who?" The man questioned obviously confused about the question.

Baring her teeth, she looked to the man. "You're saying that our friends could possibly be dead yet you're not giving us names. So I ask again. Who died."

The man scoffed. "If you want to know so bad... If I remember they went by the names Yuzu and Momo."

Mako's heart fell into her gut, her legs grew weak and soon couldn't even carry herself, falling onto her rear.

The student council. Dead? How? Why? when? She didn't them that well, but Yuzu always struck her as kind, Momo for all of her flaws seemed to always put the school before herself.

And they were gone.

Her head fell forward into an open hand. 'God damn it.'

"How?" She asked. Her gaze still fixed on the ground.

"from the rumours. They were caught out in an emission and were zombified."

Zombified? Was this some sort of bad horror film? Glancing to Saori who was in a similar state of disbelief. She shook her head. Putting a hand on her knee, she forced herself to her feet. She couldn't let Saori down, she needed to be strong and get them through this.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed hold of Saori's trembling hand and walked forward tugging it slightly to get the redhead to follow. Turning back to the man, simply asked. "Aren't we wasting daylight?"

Perhaps it was her imagination, but from what she had seen it looked as if the man smiled slightly. "Come on."

The trio departed for the ship and as they walked, Mako couldn't help but feel the fear she repressed begin to return. She had to be strong. For Saori.

xXXXx

Fifteen minutes later and they had arrived. To say the ship was in a poor state would be an understatement. While the Skadovsk was basically sawn in two with both ends of the ship being relatively intact. The Shevechenko's hull was all but torn in two with only the frame and a small wooden bridge on the top deck connecting both pairs of the ship.

Paint was nowhere to be seen besides the small patches of graffiti that dotted the walls. Like the Skadovsk it had a thick layer of rust coating the outside of the ship. However, that's where the comparisons end. Electricity was nonexistent and few stalkers were taking shelter in the ship. It reminded Mako of a slum of some sort. Where the Skadovsk was a rundown hotel on the side of a highway, the Shevchenko was a seedy hostel that hadn't seen a good day in years.

The only positive Mako could come up with was its size, being longer than the Skadovsk it could perhaps provide shelter to more stalkers from the elements.

She wouldn't want to stay the night here, and thankfully they had been given a room at the Skadovsk, but if worse comes to worst, this could make a good emergency shelter.

Leading them out onto the top deck, the man led them across the deck and across the wooden bridge to the bow the ship.

Stopping the pair in front of several wooden boxes, he walked over to one of the boxes and set his backpack down. Opening it he fished out a white spray paint can, and began to give it a shake.

While their mentor was preparing the paint, Mako couldn't help but glance around at the various landmarks of this marshland. In the distance were rusted cranes, of a long silent port. To her right was yet another ship who had a massive makeshift antenna sticking out of the top of it.

"That should do it." Looking back to her tutor, she found the wooden box, now had a crude target painted onto it. A simple white circle within another circle.

Pulling both pistols out of his backpack he pushed himself off of the deck and walked over to the pair.

"Take out a magazine." Doing as she was told, she reached into jackets pocket, and pulled out on of the magazines.

When the man reached them, he passed them their guns and quickly went over the various parts of the weapons, how to load them as well as how to handle it safely which essentially was common sense. Don't point the gun at something you don't want to shoot. Keep finger off the trigger unless your ready to shoot and do not drop it.

Soon enough she found herself standing there on the rusted metal ship in the middle of a marshland, boiling in her jacket, with a gun in her hand's sights lined up on the wooden box.

"When you're ready to shoot. Squeeze the trigger and again. Don't drop it!" Mako felt her breathing heighten as she was given the go-ahead.

Focusing all of her effort to keep the sights lined up, she took a deep breath and slowly squeezed the trigger. An explosive bang deafened her; the gun kicked against her as lead left the gun which left her with trembling hands and ringing ears and forced her eyes shut.

Letting out a breath. She opened her eyes and returned her focus on the box, finding a hole about a foot above the center. "Good, you didn't drop it. But you're focusing too much on the sights and not on the target. Try to maintain a balance." Her mentor halfheartedly congratulated. "Now ginger, your turn."

Saori whose hands were already trembling brought the gun up to eye level. Her chest was rising and falling at a fast pace. "Easy, breath Saori," Mako said attempting to calm the girl.

The girl said nothing, following the advice, and taking a deep breath, which seemed to calm her trembling hands, if only slightly. The girl's finger slowly curled around the trigger. Yet another bang echoed across the marsh, her ears rang some more yet there was no pain, and her eyes were yet again forced shut yet it was only for a moment.

Saori had, remarkably done slightly better than her, with her hole being only about nine inches left of center. A wave of relief seemingly washed over Saori as her arms dropped from eye level, and a gasp escaped her lips.

"Good. Work on controlling your trembling. Now again."

Target practice continued and continued. Ammo was spent, magazines were changed, and even when it seemed like they had all been emptied, their mentor forced them to load them again and then fire some more.

By noon they could take no more. Their groupings had gotten closer together, but their hands ached from the constant jolting of the gun. Moreover, their stomachs had finally caught up to them.

Pulling the trigger one last time, the slide locked back and another hole was knocked into the box, this one far from the center. Pulling out the magazine she stuffed it into her pocket before turning back to her mentor who had set himself upon an old car seat he had found below deck, reading his PDA as he sipped something from a grey metal flask.

"Can we stop?" She asked over the ringing in her ears and sticking her pistol in her pocket. The man briefly glanced up from his device, before returning to it. "I suppose we can break for lunch." the man said, causing a sigh of relief to come from the redhead who had been in the process of reloading.

The man brought his backpack around, opened it and produced two cans. "Do you want beans or spam?"

Mako not wanting to step on her friend's toes said nothing. Either or worked for her. "I'm guessing we won't be able to heat any of them up?" Saori asked, to which he shook his head.

"This is the zone, you're going to have to learn to eat cold food." He explained.

Saori pursed her lips. "I'll take... the spam." The man tossed the can to her, which she frantically attempted to catch only for it to tumble out of her hands and clanked against the rusted ship's hull.

However, for Mako, he only extended the can. Reaching out to take it, the man suddenly retracted his hand. "You don't have a can opener how do you get this open?" The man asked.

Looking to the can she mulled it over. "A knife would work. If I had one."

The man extended the can once more, letting the small girl take it before reaching into his waist and taking out a knife and handing it to her.

"Um, excuse me," Saori said grabbing the pair's attention. Showing her open can she continued. "How am I supposed to eat this without utensils?"

"You have hands." He replied

"Huh?" The pair was dumbfounded by the response, their entire life they had been taught to never eat with their hands, that it was dirty, barbaric, and here they were being told to eat from a can with their hands.

"Eat with your hands. Water is way too precious in the zone to waste on simple utensils. So, it's best to simply deal with the small sanitation."

Looking too her can of beans with pursed lips, she glanced over to her dirty hands. A small "guh" Left her mouth at the thought. The growl of her stomach forced her hand, so she raised and stabbed the can on the outer edge, repeating it over and over again until she was able to pry the can open.

As she stared at the gravy covered bean, she looked to the aluminum top that was barely attached to the can. Idea forming, she carefully grabbed it and worked it back and forth until it snapped apart leaving her with a small jagged metal disk.

Sitting down among the brass she placed the can next to her and took the can top with both hands, thumbs hovering over the center. Pressing down on the lid it slowly deformed in shape, a sudden jolt of pain forced air to be sucked in through her teeth.

Pulling her left hand from the top she turned it over and found herself looking at a jagged cut at the bottom of her index finger, a bead of blood seeped through the opening. Bringing it up to her mouth she sucked on it cleaning it.

'No pain no gain' she guessed.

A bandage suddenly entered her field of view. "You should cover that up, don't want an infection." The man said. Surprised, she slowly reached out, took it, and quickly covered up the cut. "Smart thinking though."

Looking back to her baked beans, she grabbed the can and began to eat.

The food was a welcome surprise, tasting of actual food than whatever she had been given the night before.

Looking up she saw Saori who had seemingly copied her. The flexible can top of the SPAM can was in, held in such a way to make a makeshift spoon. Which she used to both cut the meat and bring it up to her mouth.

Perhaps, this wasn't going to be that bad.

Lunch went on for close to half an hour, water had been passed out and by the end of it, their hunger had been sated and their mood significantly improved.

But something was still amiss. Even though when Saori talked to her she seemed happy or at least content, Mako knew that she was still traumatized by the dog attack earlier that day. It was the rigidness with which she ate. However, most telling was the fact that she only smiled when speaking to her directly. While she ate, there was nothing. She was no doubt contemplating, hearing of the deaths of two classmates would devastate anyone.

She needed time neither of them had.

With both cans, emptied Mako asked the only question that could come to mind. "Are we heading back now?"  
The man tossed reeled back an arm and threw it off of the boat. An action which appalling to the two girls. "We're heading to an anomaly. So that I may teach you how a stalker makes his money."

Mako bit the inside of her lip at the prospect of heading further away from shelter.

Standing up, he patted off his pants and gestured them to follow. "Just leave the cans there." He stated starting to walk off. Both girls looking to each other unsure of what to do did as they were told.

"Are you not going to take the pistols back?" Mako asked.

"You saw what happened when you attempted to kick that dog off of your friend. I do believe a pistol would have been better in that situation."

She couldn't argue with his logic, but the fact that they had no ready magazines nullified his point.

Before she could ask about that, she was cut off. "By the way. How do you feel about getting irradiated?"

The pair looked between each other unsure of what to think. However, neither girl was excited about the prospects of being exposed to radiation.

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **So that takes care of firearms training, now onto learning about anomalies with dickhead guy who don't give a fuck**_

 _ **I want to thank those who have left reviews on the story followed and favourited it. it means a lot to me. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and i hope to see you in the future.**_


	5. Training concludes

Exhaustion, that was probably the best way to describe how she felt.

After leaving the boat it was another ten minutes of trudging through the marshland until they reached the edge of the swamp, the walk itself was a rather simple task, such exercise rarely tired her out. It was when they had made to the edge of said marsh and had to climb up a rather steep cliff face that she truly felt the lack of sleep begin to hit her.

How much she would give to have her futon back.

Thankfully their destination was at the top of the hill meaning that it was only a short few steps before their mentor told them to stop.

That was where the positives ended.

It was clear that what she stood in front of was the anomaly just by the way it looked. It was certainly something worthy of that name, she couldn't quite comprehend what she was looking at.

The earth was torn apart, at the center of which was a crater with various pillars of dirt and rock hoisted up into the air around it in a claw shape around some none existent orb in the center. It was as if the ground itself was reaching out to grab something.

The man spat as he walked over to a seemingly vibrating pocket of air on the edge of the crater. "Watch carefully." He told them, as he plucked a screw from his pocket and tossed it into the air.

The pair watched in horror as the bolt was instantly stopped in its tracks. It began to spin faster and faster as the sound of rushing wind grew louder and louder until in a flash of light, and a loud bang. The bolt no more.

"That. Would that happen to a person?" Mako asked eyes still fixed on where the bolt had been.

Their mentor turned to face them. "Yes, it would, which is why it's important to make sure you have enough bolts to find a path towards the artifacts that are formed in such anomalies."

"Wait." Saori started. "These artifacts. They're in there?" she asked pointing to the claw. Too which the man nodded. The look on Saori's face in response was a mixture of dread and hopelessness. Falling onto her rear she shook her head. "I can't do this." She muttered.

"I'm sorry but you don't have a choice." The man said without a shred of sympathy. "Would you rather die far away from home cold and alone?"

"Rabid animals, these anomalies. We were just regular teenagers going to high school. We never planned for this. We were never given a choice!" Saori retorted.

"So what are you going to do?" The man asked stepping closer. "Just curl in die. Perhaps feed yourselves to the local mutants to get back at us for pushing you? Or maybe just turn your guns on yourselves and pull the trigger?"

"No!" She shouted.

The man crouched down getting uncomfortably close to the girl. "Then what are you going to do?" He started. "Like I said before you don't have any choice, its either fight or die. So what are you going to do? Are you going to be like the two I taught before and die? Or are you going to fight."

"I... I don't want to die but. This is too dangerous."

"So what? Are you going to make your friend here do all the dangerous work while you sit on the boat hoping to one day get home?"

"Stop," Mako said interrupting the argument. "Give me what I need and I'll do it." Saori staired at her unsure as to what to say. Mako looked to her, staring into her eyes telling her without words not to worry. "I'm... smaller, I can get into the hard to reach places."

The man let out a huff and stood up. "Do you have all of your equipment on you?" Mako nodded. "Take out your devices."

She did. The man pointed to each of them explaining their purpose as he did. "This is your Geiger counter. It monitors the radiation in the area, and emits a clicking sound which gets faster the more there is. Keep an ear on the noise, if it gets close to sounding like a consistent beep, you need to leave."

Mako looked over the device. 'It would be good to keep it close to my head then.' Sticking it in her chest pocket she looked to the other device that wasn't her PDA.

"That, is your artifact detector, an echo model if I'm correct. Unlike more modern detectors these will only guide to the location of artifacts via a simple beep and a light that gets progressively faster the closer you are to it."

"Couldn't I simply look for them with my eyes?" Mako asked.

He shook his head. "I don't understand it, but artifacts are usually impossible to see with your naked eye, only junk that no one would pay for is visible."

She couldn't help but purse her lips. 'Great.' The device in her hand had a small blue tube light protected by a small piece of metal that acted as a guard hooked up to a hinge at the top of the device. Turning it over onto its side revealed it's on switch.

Flipping open the guard and turning it on, the light turned blue and a small distinct beep filled her ears. "Good there's one nearby." He said before bringing his backpack to the front and rummaging through it, soon producing a small metal case. He opened it and pulled out a bottle of thick pills and handed it to her. "This is Radioprotectant. It will reduce the amount of radiation your body will absorb. Not quite sure how it works but it does."

Looking over the pill case. She opened up and poured out a few of the dull grey pills into her hand. "Can I have some water?" The man said nothing handing her the same water bottle she had drank from during lunch.

Popping the pill into her mouth, she took a swig of water and struggled for a brief moment before it went down. Letting out a cough, she passed the items back to her mentor. "Shouldn't I have a gas mask or something along those lines?"

The man let out a small sigh. "That's more for chemicals then radiation. Now before I forget." Reaching over his shoulder, he pulled a strap over his head connected to a bag that hung at his hip. "This here is a lead-lined bag, the artifacts will more often than not give off radiation, so this will protect you during transport back to Skadovsk."

Taking it, Mako hung it from her shoulder. Looking back to her mentor he gave her a simple nod, as confirmation that it was her time to shine. Taking a deep breath to steady her heart. She reached into her pocket that contained the bolts and opened the box, making it easier to grab a replacement.

With detector in one hand and bolt in another, she walked over to the edge of the "claw". Her Gaiger counter began to tick as she drew closer, however, she also heard a different beep that didn't come from her detector.

"Your detector also detects anomalies, so if you're hearing it now, that means an anomaly is most likely in front of you."

Tossing the bolt in front of her confirmed what her mentor had just said. Biting the inside of her lip, she wiped the building sweat on her brow.

"Mako you don-"

"Enough Saori." Mako retorted cutting her off. Circling the crater, the blue light of her detector began to pulse faster and faster.

When she reached an opening where her detector was silent, she climbed up and hopped in. Her pulse was beating faster and faster keeping pace with her Geiger counter that had steadily increased in tone.

She developed a rather strict routine within moments of entering the crater. Toss a bolt. Move forward. Pick up the bolt. Check her detector. Rinse and repeat.

However, there was so much beeping it got to her rather fast, the Geiger counter tick, the anomaly detector and artifact detector were beeping. All of it ringing in her ear.

Tossing yet another bolt it landed without incident. Stepping forward she knocked a rock with her boot sending it into an anomaly that was just next to her. Causing her to take a step back in reaction to how close she had been.

"Stay calm!" Her mentor shouted. "The last thing you want is to stumble into one of these things." Against her better judgement, she took a deep breath and composed herself. She didn't know if it was a good idea with all this radiation around her, but at this point in time, she didn't care.

Following the detector was a hustle in and of itself. Without any clear direction as to where this artifact was, Mako was essentially stumbling around in the dark. Or rather stumbling around in the dark with boobie traps placed around every corner.

However, after what felt like hours, she soon found heading in the proper direction.

Step.

Bolt.

Step.

Bolt.

The detector's light was soon constantly on, its beep was no longer segmented by spans of silence. She was here, but where was it?

Taking another step, a blinding light, appeared on the ground in front of her which soon faded to reveal a strange-looking flat rock with crystals forming on the edge in small clusters.

Reaching down she picked it up, and looked it over, she couldn't quite tell what made this thing so valuable, it seemed like anything you could find down at an open-air market being sold by some foreigner with a strange accent.

Shacking herself awake, she opened up the bag and stuffed the artifact inside. Looking back to her detector she had found that it had gone silent.

"Good job. Now come back here." Her mentor shouted.

Letting out a sigh of relief. She followed the path she took to get to this point. Tossing bolts just to make sure she didn't mess up and end up a red smear on the ground.

Upon reaching the edge of the crater she was met by her mentor who offered a hand to aid her in the climb out of the anomaly. "Now that wasn't so bad." He said with a light smile before shooting a glare at the ginger. "So what did you get?"

Mako in the process of shutting off the various devices could only shrug. "I don't know, it was this weird flat rock with clusters of crystals circling around the center."

"Ah, a stone flower. That should go for a good eight thousand rubles if you're lucky." He replied. Both her and Saori's eyes went wide at the amount they could make. Eight thousand must have been quite a bit of money, and if they made that only off of this. They could get home in no time. "Now, you're probably still irradiated even with those pills I gave you. So you're going to have to detox the way we do it here in the zone. But that's going to need to wait until we get back to the Skadovsk so let's get going."

The man said nothing more and simple walked off back in the direction of the old ship. Jogging to catch up to him, Mako couldn't help but wonder what he meant by detox the zone way.

xXXXx

Before she knew it, they were back on the Skadovsk, they had sold their artifact for around seven thousand rubles. It seemed like a lot until she learned the price of food. A single can of beans went for around eight hundred and that was just a single meal, water was cheaper than that, a bottle going for around five hundred, but as she did the calculation it only pointed to them spending most of their money on just surviving.

That didn't even take into account ammunition.

Perhaps that was the reason why her stomach was churning over. Or perhaps it was the smell of the liquid placed before her on a makeshift table in the common room of the ship.

"This is what you meant by detox the zone way?" She asked, looking at the small glass before her filled with the clear liquid. She wasn't sure what this liquid was, but the fact it smelled of rubbing alcohol gave a clear indication that this was some sort of alcohol "You do know I'm sixteen, right?

The man showed no indication of care. "There's been a rumour that has been around since the first Chernobyl disaster that alcohol such as this or red wine, helped the body deal with radiation. Something about increasing your metabolism. So practically everyone around her practices taking a few shots of vodka after trudging through a radioactive area."

"Then, uh why do I have a shot in front of me?" Saori asked from her seat beside Mako.

The man looked to her annoyed. "Because it's to get you used to the taste.

The pair looked at their drinks, uneased by the smell. Glancing around the room, she found most of the stalkers that had been chatting when they had arrived, had taken a keen interest in watching their first taste of alcohol. No doubt expecting a volatile reaction.

Mako looked back to the drink and swallowed her fear. It smelt awful but it looked like water. So it must be at least somewhat good.

Grabbing the small glass, she raised it up to her mouth and in a single motion, slammed it back.

And immediately regretted it.

Not only did it smell of rubbing alcohol, but it tasted just as bad as it smelt. And the burn that followed suit, it felt as if she had just sanitized her entire mouth throat and esophagus. Tear filled eyes shot wide as she slammed the glass back onto the makeshift table, coughing all the while.

But the burning did it not end. For what felt like hours everything burned and showed no signs of stopping.

The best she could do was focus on other things. Such as the fit of laughter that had taken the bar by storm. She couldn't blame them for laughing at her suffering, seeing a young girl try whatever devil water this was would be funny to people that had to do what she had just done for a living.

A hand on her back sent a jolt up her spine. "Mako... are you alright?" Saori asked, receiving only a glare in return. "I... uh sorry."

"Come on ginger, it's your turn." He said putting the spotlight on her. The ginger pursed her lips and took hold of the glass with both of her trembling hands and slowly brought it up to her mouth, sipping it for a brief moment before her eyes shot wide.

"Bu" *cough* "rns" She muttered struggling to get it out.

Their mentor let out an annoyed sigh, "your friend had the right idea, you need to drink it all in one go."

Saori looked to the smaller girl for encouragement but only a shrug in response. Mimicking what Mako had done, Saori brought the glass back up to her mouth and just like Mako had done, drank the rest of it in a single go. Her reaction rather similar, the coughing, the grabbing at the throat. It was almost like looking in a mirror for Mako.

Laughter once again erupted from the spectators, all of which were having a good time watching the pair suffer.

Even their mentor was chuckling. "It may suck right now, but give it a few minutes and you'll start feeling warm and happy. Another perk of Vodka."

'Vodka?' Mako thought, 'That's what that was.'

"I should get going though, it's only four and I still have stuff that I need to get done." He said standing up and putting on his backpack. "I'll be back tomorrow around the same time and we'll continue do what we did today. Oh, and you can keep the bottle and glass. Think of it as a reward for a hard day's work."

Mako watched as the man picked up his gear and left, heading to the door, when a sudden question popped into her mind. "Wait!" The man stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. "If Momo and Yuzu were here in the zone, could that mean that some of our friends are out there?"

The man shrugged. "Who knows, they could very well be, but you would have to ask around. Best find a way to learn Ukrainian."

Pursing her lips, she looked back to the bottle. A hard day's work?

xXXXx

As the day wound down, Mako and Saori soon retired to their room with a single new backpack in hand. It wasn't anything special, a simple school backpack that was rather cheap costing just under a thousand rubles.

For supper, they bought two water bottles, a can of corn, a can of ravioli and two spoons. All of this came out to just under four thousand rubles, which left them with two thousand three hundred for breakfast the next day.

This, however, left Mako with a rather important question. Considering how expensive food was here, should they attempt to maintain the three meals a day that they were used to, or cut back to two?

Sighing, she shovelled another spoonful of cold corn into her mouth. She was too tired to think about this, the bed that she was currently sitting on was too comfy to ignore. Tilting her head back, she scooped the rest of the can's contents into her mouth, before placing it next to their new bottle of alcohol and their discarded jackets. If there was one good thing that came from that bottle it would be how warm and relaxed it made her feel even in this strange hell hole of a place.

"Hey, Mako." Looking towards Saori who had gotten to bed faster than her. Their eyes met, the ginger-haired girls were red, and visible tears filled their corners. "Why does that man hate me." The girl wiped away the tears. "I'm not... bad for acting the way I did, right? I've been attacked by a dog, had to fire a gun, learned of my fellow students' death. That justifies what I did right?"

Mako took in a deep breath, the first words she had said after their mentor had left and these were it? "I don't think he hates you."

"But the way he talked to me. He hates me."

Mako shook her head. "He was in charge of training, those student council girls and they ended up dead, he's probably just trying to make sure that doesn't happen to you. He just doesn't want another death on his hands." She told the girl. "Why are you bringing this up now and not when we were out in the field?"

The ginger said nothing in response only clenching the blankets harder. Moving off of the bed, Mako pulled the covers open and slipped inside. Before she could get comfortable the arms of her friend wrapped around her and pulled her close.

Surprised she attempted to look back at her childhood friend, only to be stopped when she felt the girl's forehead on the back of her neck. "Do you hate me?" She whispered.

"What?"

"Do you hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?"

"I forced you to go into that anomaly to grab that artifact."

Letting out a breath, she turned to face the wreak of a girl. "I couldn't hate you Saori. Just you being there, after..." Mako tailed off as the memories of that day slowly came back. "Just the fact you stayed by me was more than what I could ever do in return.

The arms around her tightened into a constrictive hug. Mako could feel the girls tears on her cheek. Unsure as to what to do. Mako only wrapped her one free arm around the girl. "There there." She muttered in a robotic tone, lifting the phrase from one of those movies her friend used to force her to watch.

Before long, her friend was fast asleep. Leaving her alone in the room, she quietly attempted to remove herself from the girl's grasp but it was impossible, her grip on her was as strong as a lion with a gazelle in its jaw.

Letting out a quiet groan, she simply attempted to get comfortable and reflected on the day.

Their first true day as stalkers were done, things were learned and danger had been avoided. What would tomorrow bring? She wasn't quite sure but resigned herself to trying to figure out that one in the morning.

Closing her eyes to the sound of her friend's soft breaths she soon found herself in the all too familiar void that had comforted her for countless years.

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **So that concludes this chapter, a bit of soft yuri thrown into the mix because why not. And we see their first experience with anomaly diving. Hope you liked it and let me know what you think.**_


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